Lavender Cheesecake Squares

Finally! I've been waiting to make this tasty little variation on one of my favorite cheesecake bars for some time now. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing about creamy, tangy cheese and zesty lemon that a little hint of lavender can't just tip over the edge into full-on deliciousness. The sweet, floral notes of the lavender perfectly compliment everything that's going on in this little bar--it's nice enough for an after dinner sweet and simple enough for a little decadent bright spot after breakfast on a rainy spring day. Not that I'd know anything about eating cheesecake for breakfast. Not me. 

There's a couple of fun little variations I've been debating with these bars. I used a variation on the lemon shortbread for the crust, but I'd like to try it with the more traditional graham cracker, maybe mixed with a little lemon zest. And then there's the idea of making a simple lavender syrup and maybe glazing a standard cheesecake with that. The possibilities...(dramatic intake of breath)...are endless.

Lavender Cheesecake Squares

Crust:
1 stick butter, room temperature
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 cup flour

Cheesecake:
1 8-oz container cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup dried lavender
1 large egg
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream together butter and confectioner's sugar. Mix in lemon zest, vanilla extract and salt. Gently stir in flour, just enough to incorporate. Line a glass baking dish with parchment paper with a little extra on the sides (just so that it makes it easy for you to lift the cheesecake out of the dish). Press the crumbly dough into the parchment paper. Bake 15-20 minutes until the crust is firm and turning golden brown. Turn oven heat down to 325, let crust cool slightly on the stovetop.

For cheesecake: In a food processor, process together lavender and white sugar until the lavender is mostly broken down and powdery (you don't want too many large seeds in your cheesecake). With a mixer or with an egg beater, beat together cream cheese and sugar until well incorporated. Beat in egg, sour cream and vanilla extract.

Turn oven temperature With a rubber scraper, pour the cheesecake over the crust and spread. Bake for 30 minutes at 325 until the cheesecake is firm. Remove from glass baking dish with parchment paper, then once it is relatively cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set and cold.

Serve and enjoy! Or hoard it for yourself and don't share with anyone. No judgement.

And, on just a little photography side note, I tried to shake things up a little bit today and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! Everything's a lot more blue than usual, mostly because I usually have to photograph at night and I use an "outdoor" light bulb in my setup. What do you think? Kind of a bit more "food-bloggery" in my opinion.